GIRLS BASKETBALL

Girls basketball | 1A DeKalb Supersectional: Aquin's Brunner does it all in victory over Seton

February 20, 2012|By Bob Narang | Special to the Tribune

Freeport Aquin junior Sophie Brunner did everything in the first half, except score many points.

She made up for it with plenty of scoring in the second half.

Brunner scored 17 of her game-high 22 points after halftime and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Aquin to a 61-35 victory over Seton on Monday in the Class 1A DeKalb Supersectional.

The Bulldogs (30-4) advanced to their first state semifinal, in which they will play LeRoy at 12:15 p.m. Friday.

Brunner dominated the game on both ends, handing out pinpoint passes, blocking shots and even rebounding her own miss on a free-throw attempt at the end of the second quarter. But Brunner, the Bulldogs' leading scorer and rebounder, wasn't needed in the scoring column during the opening two quarters.

Aquin scored the first 10 points, and three different players hit 3-pointers in the first quarter.

"Our shots were falling and we shot well on 3-pointers, so I didn't need to score," Brunner said. "I kept passing and finding my teammates."

The Sting (23-9) played a competitive schedule, but rarely encountered a multi-dimensional player of Brunner's caliber this season. Brunner had five points, 10 rebounds and four assists to lead the Bulldogs to a 36-22 halftime lead.

"I would say she's one of the toughest players we've played," Seton coach Kevin Green said of Brunner. "She has size and the mobility to be a problem for a lot of teams."

The 6-foot Brunner lists Loyola, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Dayton on her growing list of potential college stops. Brunner helped balloon Aquin's advantage to 46-26 after a coast-to-coast layup early in the third. Brunner's one flaw was 4-for-12 free-throw shooting.

"In the second half, things opened up for me because they were concentrating on our shooters," Brunner said. "I started taking the ball to the basket."